Kukla's Korner Hockey

Entries with the tag: matt bradley

Matt Bradley’s recent critique of Alexander Semin and his previous employer is being backed by another former Capital.

New Jersey Devils forward David Steckel, who spent the majority of last season with the Capitals before being traded in February, defended the comments of his former teammate.

Speaking to the Washington media, the 29-year-old did not dispute Bradley’s statements, which described a lack of effort from Semin and a lack of discipline from the team on the ice and in the playoffs.

“It’s not like he went out and told lies,” Steckel told reporters. “(He) didn’t really say anything bad about anybody. He just stated what he felt.”

Bradley, who signed with the Florida Panthers after six seasons in Washington, caused a stir with comments that he made in an interview with the Team 1200 radio station in Ottawa.

(Matt) Bradley, who signed with the Florida Panthers in July as an unrestricted free agent, also told Ottawa’s TEAM 1200 that the Capitals’ locker room was “maybe a little bit too nonchalant” and undisciplined.

A partial transcipt is below:

On why the Capitals couldn’t break through in a second-round sweep against Tampa Bay:

“You know, I don’t have a definite answer. I mean, there’s reasons why. We had some guys who didn’t show up in playoffs, and I’ll leave them unnamed. I think our locker room was maybe a little bit too nonchalant, and guys weren’t disciplined the way they should have been. Those two things are big things.

“I’d say that’s about it, because we had a lot of guys that played hard and played well, and it seemed that sometimes the guys that weren’t playing well were the ones getting the [majority] of the ice time. In the playoffs I don’t think it matters who you are; it’s who’s playing well for you at the time, and that’s not always what happened with our team. It wasn’t the guys who were playing well at the time, it was the guys who were our best players for the most part who were playing no matter what.”

Asked to describe the discipline problems without naming names:

“I don’t mind saying Alexander Semin’s name, because he’s one guy who has so much talent, he could easily be the best player in the league, and just for whatever reason, just doesn’t care….

As the new season approaches, I’ll be making an effort to preview the Southeast Division in a slow and steady, comprehensive manner. To kick things off, I thought I’d take a look back at last year’s individual player statistics, updated to reflect this summer’s off-season transactions. (In other words, for example, we’ll group Dustin Byfuglien’s 2009-10 statistics with Chicago alongside his new Atlanta Thrashers teammates and their performances from last year.)

In short, we’ll look at last year’s stats with this year’s rosters, both by division as a whole and by individual teams, broken down by position… Because a look to the recent past can often be a good indicator of what’s to come. (Often… Not always. See: Cheechoo, Jonathan.) And, besides, I don’t know that you’ll find a list like this in too many places (at least I hope you won’t… Cause that would mean I spent too much time on all of this!)

Janssen, who appeared to lead with his elbow, said: “I was just coming back and [Bradley] had the puck. He cycled it back, and he was looking back like he felt the puck was still on his skates. I finish my hits. I thought it was a good opportunity. His head was down and I was just trying to get the boys into it. I hope no suspension, but we’ll see what happens. If it happens, it happens and that’s the way it is.”

There were a couple of hard-hitting bouts in the opening period, with the Predators coming out on top in both. Wade Belak buckled Donald Brashear with a straight left and dropped him to the ice, while Jordin Tootoo turned Matt Bradley’s face into a bloody mess — cutting Bradley’s nose badly and giving him a black eye to boot.

“We have guys that can battle each and every night and that’s part of our team,’’ Tootoo said. “We play physical and bring it all.’‘

Brashear didn’t return after the fight and might have sprained a knee when he fell to the ice.

The Washington Capitals have re-signed right wing Matt Bradley to a three-year contract, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today. In keeping with club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.